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5 Good Reasons to Turn Down an Inheritance
By: Sarah Johnston You may use a qualified disclaimer to refuse a bequest from a loved one. Doing so will cause an asset to bypass your estate and go to the next beneficiary in line. What are the reasons you’d take this action? Here are five reasons: 1. Gift and estate tax savings. This is […]
Fortify Your Assets Against Creditors With a Trust
You may think of trusts as estate-planning tools, i.e., vehicles for reducing taxes after your death. While trusts can certainly fill that role, they’re also useful for protecting assets, both now and later. After all, the better protected your assets are, the more you’ll have to pass on to loved ones. Creditors, former business partners, […]
What’s the Password? Estate Planning for Your Online Accounts
Nearly everyone owns at least some digital assets, such as online bank and brokerage accounts, bill-paying services, cloud-based document storage, digital music collections, social media accounts, and domain names. But what happens to these assets when you die or if you become incapacitated?
Family Matters: Estate-Planning Considerations If You Have Adopted Children or Unadopted Stepchildren
If you have adopted children or unadopted stepchildren, estate planning is critical to ensure that your property is distributed the way you desire. Adopted children Adopted children are placed on an equal footing with biological children in most situations for estate-planning purposes. Thus, adopted and biological children are treated the same way under a state’s […]
A Win-Win Proposition: A CRT Can Benefit You and Your Favorite Charity
Are you a multitasker? If so, you may appreciate an estate planning technique that can convert assets into a stream of lifetime income, provide a current tax deduction and leave the remainder to your favorite charity — all in one fell swoop. It’s the aptly named charitable remainder trust (CRT). A CRT in action You […]
Avoid pitfalls when splitting gifts with your spouse
The annual gift tax exclusion allows you to transfer up to $15,000 per beneficiary gift-tax-free for 2020, without tapping your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption. And you can double the exclusion to $30,000 per beneficiary if you elect to split the gifts with your spouse. It’s important to understand the rules surrounding gift-splitting to […]
